Graduate Programs

Online Course Information

The coursework for the master’s and DNP program are delivered online. Some clinical
courses will require visits to Columbia, SC for check-offs with faculty at periodic
intervals. The online courses are not correspondence or independent learning type
courses. They provide learners with a very interactive and collaborative learning
experience. You and your colleagues will work in groups to explore a wide range of
topics, create multimedia projects and presentations, participate in small group or
whole class discussions, critique each other’s work, and learn with and from each
other.

Online courses and courses with online components are accessible through the Blackboard
course management system at http://blackboard.sc.edu

All courses are delivered asynchronously to accommodate varying personal and work
schedules.

How Online Courses are Organized

We use the Blackboard course management system for delivery of course content. All
online courses are organized in a similar fashion to facilitate learning navigational
and communication skills. On the main course menu, all courses will have links to
Announcements, Faculty Information, Syllabus/Online Learning, Weekly Course Guides,
and Class Discussion Board.

The course content is presented in the Weekly Course Guides section. The guide for
each week will tell you what you are supposed to study, what activities you are to
perform that week, and where to post assignments.

Study Time Estimates

You are probably wondering how much time you should allocate in your schedule for
studying in one online course. Expect to put in about 12 hours of online and off-line study on a weekly basis for each three credit hour course over a regular 15-week semester.

Communicating with Your Instructor

Some people think that the lack of face-to-face interaction with classmates and teachers
is a downside to online learning. This is true to some extent, but your willingness
to engage with your fellow students goes a long way towards combating a feeling of
learning in isolation. In each online course, the Class Discussion Board contains
a Student Café forum, which is a social space for introductions at the beginning of the semester
and then for informal chatting about any topic of interest throughout the semester.
Another forum called Questions about the Course facilitates asking questions about the course content, assignments, resources etc.

If you need to reach your instructor about a personal matter, please use email or
phone. The contact information is posted in the Faculty Information section.

Conclusion

Online courses are not easy, watered-down versions of campus courses. They come with
the same requirements and the same workload as face-to-face courses. Enrolling in
an online program gives you the convenience of not having to travel to campus and
flexibility of doing the course work on your own schedule. The trade-off is making
an effort to develop new technological, communication, time management and study skills.
You will be fully supported in this process.In a nutshell, online learning can be very exciting and rewarding but it requires
hard work for success.

Online Courses

Many of our graduate programs can be completed online. Programs that can be completed
in this way are: